Global Welfare Mixes and Wellbeing: Cluster, Factor and Regression Analyses from 1990 to 2000

Building on Gough and Wood et al. (2004), Wood and Gough et al. (2004) and Abu Sharkh (2006), this article extends and tests the regime concept originally popularized by Esping Andersen (1990) geographically, conceptually, temporally and methodologically.

Since the seminal work of Esping-Anderson much has been written about welfare regimes. However, most analyses suffer from three drawbacks. First, most analyses are crosssectional. The notion of a "regime" implies a temporal consistency that cannot be addressed by cross-sectional analyses. Second, they do not assess how the political framework, the welfare spending mix and the well-being outcomes of these regimes are impacted by extraterritorial factors. Above all, very few extend beyond the boundaries of the OECD. In order to adapt the welfare state regime concept to the developing world, some profound adaptations must be made, Gough and Wood et al argue (2004), in order to recognize the very different realities across the world. But with these modifications it remains a promising paradigm for developing typologies across the developing as well as the developed world for several reasons. First, it situates modern "welfare states" within a wider welfare mix: governments interact with markets and families to produce and distribute welfare. Second, it pays attention to welfare outcomes, the final impact on human security, need satisfactions and wellbeing.

Third, it recognizes that social policy is both shaped by and a shaper of patterns of within the deep structures of political economy: social policy is seen not just as a technical issue but a power issue. However, this increase in geographical scope too often comes with a trade-off in accuracy.

This study addresses these shortcomings. First, a cluster analysis of 79 countries
across the world identifies wellbeing regimes. These wellbeing clusters are then examined across time (1990 and 2000) to assess if they exhibit a degree of constancy across time and composition that would allow labeling them as stable regimes. Factor analyses examine the distinct composites of these regimes. Regression analyses assess the heuristic superiority of the cluster concept in explaining wellbeing variations. Lastly, the effects of the national and international political economy on wellbeing and equality outcomes are examined.